CoMo Gets Bookish

Tiger authors featured at Unbound Book Festival

Story by Dale Smith
Published April 20, 2017

Booker Prize winner Sir Salman Rushdie headlines the second Unbound Book Festival April 21–22 at Mizzou and Stephen’s College. Eight Tigers — six alumni and two faculty members — are among the roughly 40 writers of fiction, nonfiction and poetry descending on Columbia to discuss their work and participate in talks, panel discussions and events. In addition to serving as a forum for writers to talk about their craft, the festival will raise money to improve literacy standards in Missouri.

Books by Mizzou authors.

The festival is free and open to the public, though organizers already have distributed all tickets for Rushdie’s appearance. Tickets are not required for other sessions.

The 2016 festival drew a Booker Prize winner, two American Book Award winners, a National Book Critics Circle Award winner, an American Book Award winner, a Guggenheim genius fellow, three poets laureate, multiple New York Times best-selling authors and 4,000 guests.

Tiger Authors at Unbound 2017

Author events Saturday, April 22

Fiction

Author Laura McHugh, BA ’99, MA ’00

Laura McHugh, BA ’99, MA ’00, wrote The Weight of Blood and Arrowood. The Weight of Blood won the International Thriller Writers Award, the Silver Falchion Award for Best First Novel and the 2016 Missouri Author Award for Fiction. It was named a Best Book of the Year by BookPage, the Kansas City Star and the Sunday Times UK. weightofblood.com"Killing It" panel on women crime writers at 2:30 p.m. in Maclanburg Playhouse.

Jill Orr, BJ ’95, MSW ’00

Jill Orr, BJ ’95, MSW ’00, writes a parenting column for COMO Living magazine, and her work has appeared in National Horseman, Waterways and the Columbia Business Times. She posts humor essays on her blog, An Exercise in Narcissism. The Good Byline is her first novel. jillorrauthor.com"Killing It" panel on women crime writers at 2:30 p.m. in Maclanburg Playhouse.

Brian Katcher, BS ED ’97, MA ’04

Brian Katcher, BS ED ’97, MA ’04, is the award-winning author of Almost Perfect, Playing with Matches, The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak, Everyone Dies in the End, and Deacon Locke Went to Prom. He works as a school librarian and lives in Moberly with his wife and daughter. briankatcher.comAuthor conversation 2:30 p.m. in Stamper Commons

Poetry

Aliki Barnstone, professor

Aliki Barnstone, professor of English and poet laureate of Missouri, is a poet, translator, critic, editor and visual artist. She has written eight books of poetry, most recently: Dwelling. Her first book of poems, The Real Tin Flower, was published when she was 12 years old, with a forward by Anne Sexton. alikibarnstone.comReading at 10:15 a.m. in Senior Hall Parlor.

Kathryn Nuernberger, BA ’02

Kathryn Nuernberger, BA ’02, has written two poetry collections, The End of Pink, which won the James Laughlin Award, and Rag & Bone, which won the Antivenom Prize. A forthcoming collection of lyric essays, Brief Interviews with the Romantic Past, won the Non/Fiction Prize from The Journal. poets.orgReading at 1:15 p.m. in Recital Hall.

Memoir

Ibtisam Barakat, MA ’00

Ibtisam Barakat, MA ’00, is an award-winning Palestinian-American author of the international memoirs Tasting the Sky, a Palestinian Childhood, and Balcony on the Moon, Coming of Age in Palestine. She is also a poet, essayist, translator, public speaker, artist and author of books in Arabic. ibtisambarakat.comAuthor conversation at 1:15 p.m. in Senior Hall Parlor.

Anand Prahlad, professor

Anand Prahlad, professor of English and director of creative writing at MU, has published two books of poems, Hear My Story and Other Poems and As Good As Mango, as well as several academic books. His memoir, The Secret Life of a Black Aspie, which won the Permafrost Nonfiction Book Prize, offers readers glimpses into the world of an African American on the autism spectrum. prahladauthor.comWriting on Disability panel at 2:30 p.m. in Recital Hall

Nonfiction

Dan Burkhardt, MBA ’75

Dan Burkhardt, MBA ’75, and his wife, Connie Burkhardt, advocate for the Missouri River valley. Their book for young readers, Growing Up with the River: Nine Generations on the Missouri, looks at the generations that have grown up in riverside communities since Lewis and Clark plied the river.Author conversation at 10 a.m. in Stamper Commons.